Posted on 12/08/2009 11:01:33 PM PST by rabscuttle385
He didn’t need a strategist. He needed for the citizens to get what they wanted, and good and hard. And, when in the nomination process, Republican voters drifted away from northern, Northeast liberal, centralist Republicans, Reagan was as he said, tan rested and ready.
Nothing but bitter experience would of brought the voters too him. And, I am talking Republicans.
In the general, he won over even Democrats, repudiating RINO GOP/RNC types, although they never learn like the lefties they are.
Both Bushes have very much, and the Hasteret, Lott big gov, big tax Republicans have been drifting on the fading work of Reagan.
Mitt , especially post Bushes burn of conservativism, has little trust that he isn’t just another GOP RINO insider type fake Reagan.
Just eight years before in 1972 Nixon had carried the country by 23% and with 49 states. Obviously he got more Democratic votes than Reagan. Much of his total was a repudiaton of McGovern and the liberals but how much? How much of the country would swing conservative? We didn't know.
Ford lost by 2% against a supposedly "centrist" Democrat so that gave us a rough approximation of where the country was. Carter was unpopular but we couldn't be sure that that fact would translate into votes especially for an avowed conservative. Strategy was everything and Reagan was a master.
What developed was what we called the "Barbed Wire Fence Strategy" or the "Cowpie Strategy". Carter had two bases of support, the Southern Democrats (what we called the mule pluckers) and the northern Democratic liberals. Neither could stand the other. The strategy was to make Carter step in the cowpie by endorsing the positions of one side or the other. Either way he lost support. We just had to make sure we didn't step in it ourselves.
I also heard it called the barbed wire fence strategy because we were making Carter straddle a barbed wire fence. We would make him shift from one side to the other and every time he did the barbed wire would work its wonders.
Reagan was masterful. He was Reagan. He didn't change a bit. By the end whatever Carter had was a nubbin.
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